Knowledge of visitor interpretation/Activities/Presentation skills
Objectives
- Identify the responsibilities of the people involved in developing and delivering interpretation
- Performance appraisal of people involved in developing and delivering the interpretation
Activity
Read through this story and then complete the tasks outlined below
A group of fourteen tour operators from England, went on a familiarization trip (fam trip) to Mauritius. Since the purpose of the fam trip is to encourage the tour operators to sell Mauritius as an option in their country, it was important that the fourteen tourists (participants)sample some of the local sites. One of the sites chosen was the Botanical Gardens at Pamplemousses, in the south of the country. A site tour guide was to meet the bus at the venue.
On arrival at the site, the tourists disembarked from the tour bus. The tour guide approached the bus with a cigarete hanging from his mouth. Without a proper greeting, he launched into his commentary of the Botanical Gardens in his native tongue of Kreole. When walking through the area, there were deer and a turtle farm, but the tour guide sped along without allowing the tourists to take photographs.
At a pause, one of the tourists asked a question and the tour guide replied that he did not know the answer and it was not a relevant question anyway.
On returning to London, the tour operators refused to sell the tour to Mauritius that included a visit to the Botanical Gardens. The representative from the Mauritian Tourism Promotion Authority that organized the fam trip wondered why this was a frequent occurrence with all the tour operators on the trip. Hence a follow-up call was made to the tour operators/tourists on the trip. All the comments centred on the tour guide and his performance.
- What are three (3) things that the tour operators might have said about the tour guide?
- In about one hundred (100) words, write how you would correct the errors of the tour guide.
Supporting materials
First, refer back to the interpretation and presentation skills slideshow and then come back to this activity.
